Doing nothing to improve employee health could be costing employers $670 per employee annually, according to the new Thomson Reuters Workforce Wellness Index used to assess healthcare cost impact and employee wellness.

Thomson Reuters conducted an employee wellness study from 2005 to 2009, measuring six (BMI, blood glucose, cholesterol, tobacco use, blood pressure, alcohol) behavioral health risk factors of employee wellness and their impact on the healthcare cost.    The three most expensive health risk factors were:

• $400 BMI
• $150 Blood Glucose
• $100 Tobacco Use

Spending less than $20 per employee annually on a starter wellness program is nothing compared to the $670 in healthcare cost per employee annually if an employer doesn’t take action to improve employee wellness.

Deciding to spend money on a workplace wellness program may seem counter-productive but in reality the cost is minimal and can produce a huge savings long-term.   Wellness Councils of America has reported that workplace wellness programs can produce an ROI  ranging from 1:1.5 to as high as 1:7.

Tri Wellness recognizes the financial and organizational challenges in implementing a workplace wellness program and created a quick and easy solution to starting an affordable wellness program for as little as $1.50 per employee per month.  With our online wellness portal, Wellness Connect, we can assist employers with getting a workplace wellness program initiated and in just a few weeks time with minimal work.  Once the workplace wellness program is in place employers can begin to assess employees’ wellness with a Health Risk Assessment and begin driving wellness program initiatives.

Sources:

Thomson Reuters

http://healthcare.thomsonreuters.com/indexes/assets/WorkforceWellnessIndex-FINAL.pdf

WELCOA

http://tpm.scgov.net/ssDocuments/1140/Wellness%20program/PartI%20WELCOA.pdf